JeepinBear
Explorer
Hi all,
Now that Michelle and I live in New Zealand, as recent migrants from Idaho - USA, we spend most of our free time exploring the "Land of the Long White Cloud".
We consider ourselves blessed to be able to live here and have chosen Hamilton (New Zealand's largest inland city) on the North Island as our home. The relatively central location of Hamilton makes it a wonderful base from which to travel. We can be to the coasts, ski fields, and major lake districts in less than 2 hours.
It's funny, we continually have people tell us we have seen more of the North island than they have even though they've lived here their whole lives. Not bad for 3 months here eh?
Yesterday we decided to travel to the Northen part of the Bay of Plenty. This included the towns of Waihi, Whiritoa, Whangamata, Onemana, and others.
One very interesting aspect of living here is obviously the Maori culture. The country is steeped in Maori tradition and influence.
In the town of Waihi we visited a small park which includes a gold mine, pump house, statues, and more.
One amazing aspect is the relatively few amount of people we regularly see on the pristine beaches. We travelled north out of Waihi to Whiritoa (pronounced fear-e-TOH-uh) Beach for example, and we counted less than 10 people on the beach. Keep in mind it was 75F and a Saturday.
More details coming...
Now that Michelle and I live in New Zealand, as recent migrants from Idaho - USA, we spend most of our free time exploring the "Land of the Long White Cloud".
We consider ourselves blessed to be able to live here and have chosen Hamilton (New Zealand's largest inland city) on the North Island as our home. The relatively central location of Hamilton makes it a wonderful base from which to travel. We can be to the coasts, ski fields, and major lake districts in less than 2 hours.
It's funny, we continually have people tell us we have seen more of the North island than they have even though they've lived here their whole lives. Not bad for 3 months here eh?
Yesterday we decided to travel to the Northen part of the Bay of Plenty. This included the towns of Waihi, Whiritoa, Whangamata, Onemana, and others.
One very interesting aspect of living here is obviously the Maori culture. The country is steeped in Maori tradition and influence.
In the town of Waihi we visited a small park which includes a gold mine, pump house, statues, and more.
One amazing aspect is the relatively few amount of people we regularly see on the pristine beaches. We travelled north out of Waihi to Whiritoa (pronounced fear-e-TOH-uh) Beach for example, and we counted less than 10 people on the beach. Keep in mind it was 75F and a Saturday.
More details coming...
while sitting at a beach head. 
